Austin Hoodie Knitalong – Shoulders and fronts

Sorry for the delay in the knitalong. I went to the Renaissance Festival last weekend and several of us came home with a horrible cold bug. We are still trying to figure out who our typhoid Mary is… So I was at home in bed for three days last week and am now back up and at em!

If you haven’t started an Austin Hoodie yet, no worries! There is still plenty of time. We also just got in a brand new Tosh Merino Light order and still have several colors in sweater quantities for this sweater.

Beg shoulder shaping and place neck sts on holder to be worked later. Left shoulder is worked first.

Back and neck stitches on their "holders"

First, I can tell you that I don’t own any stitch holders. I suppose there are actual stitch holders in my house somewhere but I have no idea where they are. I use a darning needle and scrap yarn. My scrap yarn for this project happens to be the yarn that was sitting closest to my box of tissues…Pear Tree Merino. Not exactly what most would consider “scrap yarn” but hey, when you can’t get off the sofa, this works just fine.

Let me walk through these instructions pretty carefully, as there are some tricky spots here. The first row in this section has you work 16 (19, 21, 23, 25, 30) sts and then place the next 38 (40, etc) on a holder. You have to work these sts before you put them on a holder! Then you work to the last 5 (6, etc) sts, wrap the next stitch and turn back. This is where short rows start.

About short rows:

Short rows (in my single language) are rows that you work only portions of. Once you have reached the point that the pattern indicates is the turning point, you wrap the next stitch, which will help later when the entire row is worked. The wrap helps the fabric to not have holes or breaks where you stopped and turned around. If you have ever accidentally picked up a hat project and started working back in the wrong direction, you know exactly what hole I am talking about.

To wrap the next stitch, simply move your yarn to the opposite of where it is now. (from back to front, if you just worked a knit stitch, for example) There is a pretty solid tutorial on short rows available from Knitty. here.

Another note to keep in mind..if you are using hand dye, you have probably been alternating skeins. I dropped one at this point and just finished the shoulders with one hank. This section is simply not enough rows to warrant two hanks and short rows with alternating skeins makes my head hurt.

When you work back across the entire row and work the wraps and the stitches together, be sure to check their appearance before moving on. In some cases, knitting through the back loop will help the stitches to lay better. You will then place these left shoulder stitches on a holder or on scrap yarn. The other should is worked pretty much the same…keep in mind that you do not need to alternate skeins.

Right Front

Armhole decreases and then first two stitches worked in stockinette stitch for a nice straight line

When attaching the yarn back to the right front, be sure to work with two strands and continue in the woven stitch pattern. Also remember that the first stitch worked right after the five garter stitch edges is always worked in stockinette. In this section, once the armhole decreases ended, I also worked the first two stitches at the armhole in stockinette stitch to make those two stitches easier for seaming in the sleeve. To know when to end the woven section, I counted the number of rows that were worked for the back and worked the same number for each of the fronts. I might be overly anal…but that’s what I did. Once you switch to the ribbed section, be sure to continue alternation skeins and switching at the armhole edge.

Beg shoulder shaping and place neck sts on holder to be worked later

Just like the back, the stitches that are placed on a holder are worked first, even though this isn’t specified in the pattern. Otherwise your ball yarn won’t be in the right place.